Rubber Rolls Installation

Rubber Rolls Installation

Before you begin installing your rubber rolls, please read the Job site conditions and sub floor information by clicking here.

Ok, so your rubber rolls have arrived and you are ready to start installing. You have read and completed the job site conditions and sub floor checklist and are ready to start laying out your floor. Where do you begin?

Our first step in our rubber rolls installation process is to determine which way you are going to roll out your rubber flooring rolls. Are you going to go across the room or are you going to run the rolls length wise? A good way to figure this out is to simply ask yourself the question, which way will maximize my rolls and minimize my waste and provide for the fewest cross wise seems. For example, your room is 24’ x 15’ and you have ordered 4- 25’ rolls. In this example, you would quickly choose to run the rolls in the 23’ direction since you would only have to trim a foot of one end and a foot of the width of the last roll. This type of a layout would leave you with no cross wise seams and minimize your waste. Basically, just try to figure out how you can lay out the rolls with the least amount of cuts and the least waste.

1. Room layout.

Now it is time to figure out if your room is square or not so square, which is the case in most rooms. If it is fairly square you can start along the wall closest to the entry door in the direction of your roll lengths. If it is not square, find the middle of the room in the direction that you are going to lay out your rolls and snap or draw a line. Use this as your starting point for your first roll.

Note: Many installers use the “start along a wall” method with rubber rolls installion since it is not as critical to start from the center of the room as it is with tile floors.

2. Roll layout.

Remove the rubber roll from the stretch film and unroll it onto the floor using either the wall method or the center of the room method. Cut the end of the roll longer than needed and let the ends run up the wall. Lay out all of the rolls and overlap each seam by 1/16”. Work the material back to eliminate the overlap which will create a compression fit and leave tight seams.

We recommend using Rubber Flooring Direct’s adhesive with a 1/16” square notched trowel.

Start by folding back half of the roll. (Half the width of the roll). Spread the adhesive using the square notched trowel being careful not to let the adhesive puddle or go on too thick. Spread only as much adhesive as can easily be handled in less than 30 minutes. during the rubber rolls installation process, always take extra care to not spill any or let any adhesive get on the face of the rolls. If it does happen, be sure to remove it immediately.

Once the adhesive is down, place the folding back half of the roll into the wet adhesive being careful to not let it flop down which can cause air bubbles to be trapped. Immediately roll that half of the roll with a 100 lb. floor roller to ensure good adhesion.

Next, fold over the second half of the first roll and first half of the second roll and apply adhesive being careful not to let the adhesive puddle or get on the face of the roll. Next, fold back the 2 halfs and continue on working at a pace that will ensure you will always be folding back flooring into wet adhesive.

Note: Make sure to spread your adhesive at right angles to the seams in order to keep the adhesive from coming through the seams.

Clean any adhesive off the face of the rolls immediately.

If some of the seams are gaping, you can temporally hold them together by using masking tape. Never use duct tape since it will leave a residue.

Keep traffic off the floor for 24 hours or until the adhesive is fully cured. Do not put any heavy fitness equipment on the floor for 24 hours.

Once the floor is cured, refer to maintenance and cleaning instructions by clicking here.

4. Tape down method.

You can also use high quality double faced flooring tape for your rubber flooring rolls. This method can be used if you want the flexibility of being able to move your flooring at a later time. This method works very well for smaller spaces but it is highly recommended that the glue down method be used for large or commercial applications.

Note: Use a minimum width double faced tape of 2” wide.

Dry lay all the rolls as described above. Fold back the seams and install the double faced tape so that half of the tape will contact each side of the seam. Make sure the tape is adhering well to the sub floor and remove the release paper and place the flooring into the exposed face of the tape. Roll only the seams and repeat for all seams.

Congratulations! You are now ready to start using your brand new rubber floor from Rubber Flooring Direct.